I've never heard of this artist before, but our Pastor showed a poem of his in church yesterday. Finding Christian art that is either well/creatively presented AND Scriptural can be very challenging sometimes, so whenever I find something that seems to fit BOTH I do a long happy dance and try to share it with as many as I can. I hope it blesses you!

We have had a BUSY week! We both worked, I got school assignments done, had some very needed reconciliation-type conversations with some people halfway through the week, we went to a friend's graduation and saw some out of town friends, and then made a spur-of-the-moment trip to Nashville area to have breakfast with Kyle's Pap, and ended up staying until about dinner time. The poor waitress dutifully refilled our water glasses while we gabbed the day away, not really registering how much time had passed. 
While at the friend's graduation I had some really good heart-to-heart conversations with friend's fiance and sister-in-law. 
So this week's theme has really been centered around John 8:32 "Then you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you Free." 
All of these conversations had some kind of truth-revelation that was either unknown to me or unknown to the person I was speaking to, and a LOT got cleared up. It was hard and it was good, there were a lot of tears and apologies and laughter and forehead-smacking when realizations hit of "WHY didn't we know that SOONER!?" But its been a good reminder about how where secretes live there Satan has a foothold, and even though something may not be an overt lie, where there is deception, there demons have a side door. 
Can't (and won't) go into all the gory details now, but as we drove home from Nashville and Kyle and I kept saying, "WOW!" at random times, it really convicted us to pray about how to change our outlook on things and how to guard against continuing Generational Sin.
Joshua 24:15 says, "But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
There is a lot of pride on both Kyle's side and my side of the family, but there's a lot of skeletons in the closets of both our families that have remained hidden I think out of consideration for our generation. Why bring up old dirt? Past is past, let it go and move on. However some of the things we learned really cleared up some mysteries as to why aunts and uncles or in-laws behave the way they do. While there was sin galore through a lot of the stories we were told, instead of it making Kyle and I want to chose sides or see family members differently, it really opened our eyes and gave us a new compassion for some people. How horrible to have to live all these years with THAT burden of guilt! It completely changed how we prayed for them and the others who had been hurt. While it doesn't completely change the present, it does give more hope for the future as we more strategically pray and search Scriptures more proactively.
I think we make the mistake of believing that Grace is reserved for Salvation, but then it doesn't really apply later on. Or we get so burned by other Christians who don't understand their Bible that we assume every other believer will treat us the same way. 
I've learned that I must be soooo careful to pray for discernment before confessing or asking for help at times. But asking the Holy Spirit for discernment and then acting when I sense He's moving has been so full of blessings I almost grieve that more people don't try it! 
We assume sin only hurts the people being sinned against. But how much time do we stop to consider how much sin is hurting the actual SINNER? We assume we have one of two jobs: to rush in with biblical guns blazing and announce to the world the evils being committed, or we bury ourselves in 'judge not lest ye be judged' and don't say a word. I don't think that's what Jesus meant. 

In John 8, there's an interesting story. 

2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger.7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
11 “No one, sir,” she said.
“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

What does all this have to do with the price of eggs in china? Well... for me personally, I've become more and more aware of the fact that there's a lot in my family and Kyle's family that isn't all as it seems or wasn't always the way it is now; in both the nuclear family of mom dad siblings to extended family. There's a lot of sin that has been swept under the rug and a lot of people walking around with decade old wounds, holding out for an apology that may never come. The sad thing is that 90% of the people entrenched in this bondage are all professing Christians. They punish each other for being punished by other's sin, which turns out to be sin on their part. 
This isn't what Christ died for. This is not what the New Testament, or even the Old Testament, is describing when it depicts a Community for Christ! I think too often, not only in my family but in families across the board in at least the American Church, this verse depicts the situation all too well:
​ For a son dishonors his father,
    a daughter rises up against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law--
    a man’s enemies are the members of his own household.
7 But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord,
    I wait for God my Savior;
    my God will hear me.
Micah 7:6-7

But even if thats the case (sorry guys... the javascript on this webpage is reeeally messing up the colors of my font and its IRRITATING me!) if we do what the end of the verse says, that watching and hoping for the Lord, and waiting for God to be our savior, instead of our feelings of justice or need to force people into coming to a more sanctified realization of family, GOD WILL HEAR US. 
Truth sets us free. The Lord is our Hiding Place (Psalm 32:7). He WILL hear us, and He WILL have His way. So my whole point of this blog post is to 1. externalize what this week has been, and 2. to encourage everyone reading this blog: PLEASE PURSUE TRUTH! Even if its embarrassing, shameful, guilt riddled, painful, infuriating, or devastating, PURSUE it. And then give it to God and ask Him what to do with it. Sometimes He won't ask you to do anything besides hide that Truth in your heart and pray over it, fighting the Spiritual battle through strategic prayer. Sometimes He will ask you to facilitate an uncomfortable conversation that turns into a refreshing reconciliation. But Trust Him that the Truth really does set you Free. 

 
We got home and literally two days later got buried in snow. 13 inches to be precise. Which is essentially nothing to all of my kinfolk, however Ky is NOT equipped to handle such frigid precipitation! So instead of starting my new job I spent the week trying to get ahead on schoolwork. I can't remember if I have already mentioned that I am starting online classes this month to become a Nutritional Therapist? It is just a certification, not a license, but its a great jumping off point for any other kind of wholistic healthcare venue I want to pursue. And its a MARVELOUS ministry platform, both domestically and internationally.
I got into it because of some stress-related health issues my husband was having, and they are all but cleared up now thanks to the Weston A. Price diet introduced to us by my dear friend Christian's mom, who just completed her certification.  Its been kind of a let down because when I was reading all this stuff on my own time I could inhale it in, and now that I'm STUDYING for someone else, my husband has to keep reminding me that I WANT to do this! I CHOSE to do this! I LIKE doing this! (p.s. thank you for the encouragement, Baby!) He has brought me many mugs of tea, doctored JUST right with the necessary additives to make it delectable, thrown pillows at me when my brain can't take any more information and I start whining, and said that my spur-of-the-moment cooking is still delicious, even when its 8:30 because I forgot to start dinner until about 7... actually recently he's just been encouraging me to not cook a meal for 2 but rather for 8 about twice a week and then has been a huge sport about reheating and adding easy side dishes to spruce it up... How people got married in College/Seminary, worked, carried a full load of classes, had a kid AND graduated (without murder or divorce along the way) is entirely beyond me. However my husband keeps reminding me that freezer meals are options for those kind of folks, and not everyone turns their nose up to canned vegetables or refuses to let any spoiled milk go to waste before an attempt at salvage-cheese-making has been commenced... and SOME people don't insist on making all their own lotion from beeswax and infused oils... others even just buckle down and purchase socks instead of hand knitting all of them from natural fibers ...

I feel like he's trying to tell me something.... 

So that is the news from the Home Front. Kyle is still loving his work as a Firefighter and we are both so blessed by getting more and more plugged into our new Church Home. The women are doing a study based off of War Room, using the book Fervent, which has been SUCH a timely Blessing. Kyle's mens group is doing a Francis Chan study, and he is loving the gentle challenge the pastor gives everyone in the group to dive into Scripture and apply it into every area of their life. 

SO in a single sentence, how are we doing and how has this year been? Quite blessed. Incredibly happy. Glad God is keeping us in the Palm of His Hand.